2-Day Ili Adventure: Scenic Wonders & Culture

Kalajun Attraction is located in the southeast of Tekes County, Yili, about 30 kilometers away from the county seat. It is one of the famous grasslands in Xinjiang and a famous attraction that tourists cannot miss when visiting Xinjiang West Line (Yili Loop Line). Kalajun grassland is in the shape of continuous hills, backed by towering snow-capped mountains. There are also forests, flowers and other landscapes on the grassland. The scenery is vast and beautiful, making it a great place for sightseeing and photography.

Kalajun in a broad sense refers to the Kalajun Ecological Tourism Area, which includes the East and West Kalajun, Koksu Grand Canyon, Zhongtianshan Snow Peak and Tianlai Forest. Each Attraction sells tickets separately and is far away from each other. The Kalajun Grassland generally refers to the East and West Kalajun Attraction, which is also the main destination for tourists to visit the Kalajun Grassland. The East and West Kalajun Attraction sell tickets together and use the same shuttle bus. It takes about 1-2 days to visit, and you can choose to stay on the grassland for one night in the middle. You can also come in the morning and return to Tekes County to stay in the evening.

The gate of the Attraction is located in the Kushitai Comprehensive Service Area, which is also the place where chartered or self-driving vehicles need to stop. Private vehicles are not allowed to enter the area after that. If tourists come from Tekes County by Bus to the Attraction , they can also go directly to the Bulaq Ticket Station

After arriving at the Bulaq Ticket Station, you need to buy tickets and sightseeing bus tickets in the Attraction, and then take the sightseeing bus to play. The area in the Attraction is very large. The sightseeing bus will first circle the West Kalajun Attraction, and then go to the East Kalajun. The One-way journey takes about 1 hour. The junction of East and West Kalajun is located at the World Heritage Exhibition Center. Generally, tourists start to visit the Attraction at noon. You can visit West Kalajun on the first day, get off at the World Heritage Exhibition Center, return to the World Heritage Exhibition Center on the second day, and take a bus to visit the East Kalajun Attraction before leaving.

The main scenic spots in Xikalajun Attraction include Wangyutai, Marmot Habitat, Liangyitai, Dielanggu, Shiquan, Yinmawan, Yikeshu, etc. You can take a bus to visit them one by one. Liangyitai, Dielanggu and Shiquan are still some distance away from the shuttle bus stop, and it takes about half an hour to walk from the stop. Xikalajun Scenic Attraction is dominated by rolling hills. Dielanggu is a typical hilly grassland. In summer, it is a good place for photography with layers of green.

Dongkalajun is located deep in the grassland and is also the essence of the entire grassland. The characteristic attractions here include the Five-Flower Meadow, Flower Platform, Kuerdai Forest Grand Canyon, Sanji Planation Observation Deck and Falcon Platform Observation Deck. There are snow-capped mountains, grassland scenery, forest canyons, etc. The scenery is diverse and very beautiful. However, the five attractions are a little far from the parking spot of the sightseeing bus. You can reach them by hiking from the parking spot for about 0.5-1 hour. The Five-Flower Meadow and Flower Platform are the wonderful attractions. One is an open meadow full of colorful wild flowers, and the other is where you can take pictures of the snow-capped mountains behind the grassland. They are all very beautiful and are the essence of the Attraction that cannot be missed.

The grassland in Nalati Scenic Area is a subalpine meadow plant area, one of the four largest grasslands in the world. It is located on the northern slope of Nalati Mountain and is a mid-mountain grassland on the ancient alluvial layer of the Tertiary Period. It consists of three parts: aerial grassland, river valley grassland and Nalati National Forest Park.

From June to September every year, the Nalati Scenic Area is covered in lush green, with wild flowers blooming. The climate is suitable, and the river valleys, mountains, deep gorges and forests complement each other, making it a tourist destination.

After June every year, large herds of livestock move in, entering the golden season of the grassland. Folk activities are often held here, where you can experience the Kazakh folk customs.

Kuldening - a world natural heritage site, a national water conservancy scenic spot, and a national AAAA scenic spot, is located in the southeast forest area of ​​Gongliu County, 55 kilometers away from the county seat. In April 2000, it was approved by the State Council as the West Tianshan Nature Reserve and has species unique to the Tianshan Mountains. --Snow Ridge Spruce is the habitat and origin of Snow Ridge Spruce and Central Asian wild fruit forests around the world. It is the "Green Valley of Tianshan Mountains and the Hometown of Snow Ridge Spruce". Kuldening is a world natural heritage site, a national 4A-level scenic spot, a natural oxygen bar, and is rated as the first negative oxygen zone among China's top ten forests. The state bird, state tree, and state flower of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture all come from here. At the same time, it is also the sketching creation base of the Chinese Artists Association and the Chinese mountaineering training base.

Kurdening means "horizontal ditch" to local herdsmen. It is a wide valley in the mountains running from north to south. Kurdening has a total area of ​​1,176 square kilometers and an average altitude of about 1,500 meters. The special north-south direction makes Kurdening warm in winter and cool in summer, with a pleasant climate. It has both the broadness and ruggedness of the north and the charm and beauty of the south of the Yangtze River. It is a tourist resort for summer vacation. There is the snow-capped Kabanbay Peak, which is 4,257 meters above sea level and stands majestically above the mountains. It is one of the famous peaks in the Western Tianshan Mountains. On the left side of Kabanbay Peak is a mountain covered with snow-capped spruce. An invisible reclining Buddha is naturally formed along the trend of the mountains. The sleeping Buddha rests his head on the sunrise and his feet on the sunset. He has a well-proportioned body and a serene expression. It is a masterpiece of nature. The forests, grasslands, snow-capped mountains, streams, canyons and waterfalls here constitute the magnificent picture of Kurdening. This is a place with lush forests in the Tianshan Mountains, with spruce forest resources that are rare per unit of timber. The complete original forest types and vegetation are particularly typical representatives of the entire Tianshan forest ecosystem. According to preliminary statistics, there are 1,594 species of vascular plants and 223 species of wild vertebrates in Kurdnin, which can be called a "natural gene bank" for wild species in the hinterland of Eurasia.

Tour route:

Shuttle bus lines:

Scenic Area Visitor Center (take the shuttle bus)-"Heritage Center (walk, visit the exhibition hall)->Kapan Bayi Peak (far view)->Iron Bridge (walk)-Tianshan Sleeping Buddha (far view)->Spruce King ( Take a sightseeing bus) -> Yunshang Grassland (walk down the mountain on the wooden boardwalk) -> Restaurant (walk, eat at Green Valley Resort or a fast food restaurant) -> Heritage Center parking lot (walk) and return to the visitor center (take the shuttle bus)

Self-driving route:

Scenic Area Visitor Center->Kurdening Scenic Area Zhonggou Entrance->+Li Gallery->Fengxiang Inn-Kafeng Base Camp->Qimengde Observation Deck->Ayusa Observation Deck->Hiking Spruce King->Hiking Tianshan Sleep Buddha (distance view)->Hiking on the Yunshang Grassland